Mourinho happy with Blues firepower

26 October 2013 04:02

Jose Mourinho has confidence in his Chelsea strikers, despite their less than prolific start to the season.

Samuel Eto'o scored the first Barclays Premier League goal by a Chelsea striker - other than Romelu Lukaku, who is scoring freely on loan at Everton - in last Saturday's defeat of Cardiff.

Fernando Torres then netted twice in Tuesday night's Champions League defeat of Schalke.

With Demba Ba, who proved a nuisance at Norwich, also at his disposal, Mourinho has a decision to make on whom to select on Sunday to play against a Manchester City defence without their captain Vincent Kompany.

Mourinho gave short shrift to suggestions he might be envious of City's striking options and is content with his target men.

"I'm happy with all of them, I'm happy with all the strikers," he said.

"They were not scoring goals, but were working really hard, they doing a really good job for the team.

"There are different ways to contribute, sometimes scoring goals - which is the most important thing of course - but there are other ways to contribute to a team performance and they always did, all three.

"All three are working hard and the last week was a positive week for Samuel and Fernando, because they scored goals and that's what gives them the greatest happiness for a striker."

Eto'o's strike against Cardiff was his first Chelsea goal, but he might have had one sooner, in particular in the defeat at Everton, where he wasted a number of opportunities.

That defeat still rankles for Mourinho, even though he is happier now with his team's efforts in front of goal.

Chelsea are unbeaten since the Everton loss with a home defeat to Basle in the Champions League, a run of seven games which began with the west London derby win over Fulham.

In the last four matches the Blues have netted 14 times, conceding once.

"The game where you should score more goals was the game we didn't score and the game we lost at Everton," Mourinho added.

"We didn't score. Now we are scoring. Now we are scoring with less chances.

"Schalke, the first time we (went forward) we scored.

"Sometimes matches go in one direction that you cannot control.

"What left me always calm was the way the team was playing.

"I cannot say against Basle, I cannot say first half against Fulham because we were really struggling, maybe mentally, in that difficult period of results.

"But the team was playing well. The team was normally dominant, creating chances, controlling the game well.

"But in the last period we are scoring goals and that gives some confidence."